Good morning.
I’m going to keep this one brief. In case you missed it, you can read me going way too long on some of the trends in media that have defined 2023 so far.
Here’s another playlist for you. This is the music that kind of drifted in and out of my head during the past month. You can listen to July’s edition here.
Some discoveries for me this month were Cordovas, Annie Hart, and Girl Ray. I listened to King Tuff’s latest album a lot in the spring, but “How I Love” seemed to fit the vibe of Austin in August: too hot to do anything too fast. Jerry Garcia’s “Cats Under the Stars” remains weird and wonderful for me no matter how many times I listen to it and felt appropriate in the disorienting heat. There’s some new Wilco on there too because I’ve come with them this far and so I’ll stay invested for the long haul. And I had to put Yazoo’s “Only You” as the last song because I heard it in a store or a gas station or somewhere and couldn’t not think about the end of Can’t Hardly Wait and the fact that the summer is ending in lots of places, but not really in Texas. Not in the same way that I’m used to at least.
I listened to Rickie Lee Jones’s “Chuck E’s In Love” a lot while I drove (still getting used to driving being a part of my everyday routine) and was amazed I’d never heard of her or her fabulous self-titled debut album before. “Chuck E’s In Love” is one of those songs that ambles along and, while you are in a car especially, you kind of wish everyone drove and moved at the speed the song moves. In fact, you wish life moved that way all the time: loose-limbed, confident but not arrogant, airy but not weightless. It’s a grounded song that knows when to flutter and when to come to earth.
Maybe I’m biased, but I think this would accompany an afternoon or evening over any day on the Labor Day weekend quite nicely. I’m going to try to swim every day if I can.